Digital pen does its part to save forests

Although saving trees has long been a standard cliche of the digital revolution, we all continue to waste reams of paper despite our best intentions. But EPOS Technologies is at least contributing to the effort with a way to minimize unnecessary pulp duplication.

The Israel-based company is getting ready to release a digital pen that records the intricate movements of your handwriting and stores them on a USB flash drive. Your exact writing or illustration can then be reproduced on a screen and distributed at will, reducing or eliminating the need for physical copies. The pen's receiver, which senses motion by ultrasonic acoustic waves, still requires a piece of paper for the initial writing but can save you the trouble of rushing to Kinko's.

Engadget says the pen will sell for $79, which is less than originally estimating when it was first shown at CES in January. Check out a ZDNet sneak-peek video of the pen in action at that show.